WRTICAL LAYERs. 6i 



From the inner bark of the Mulberry, the natives of 

 Otaheite manufacture their garments, and though 

 whimsical in their appearance, they are wrought with 

 great ingenuity. By a more refined process, the Liber 

 of the Flax is converted into fine linen, the "white 

 robe of innocence," which in the natural as well as in the 

 moral world, is obtained only through the exertions of 

 man and the bounty of his Creator. But even in its 

 natural state this organ is sometimes extremely beauti- 

 ful ; of this we have a remarkable example in the Lace 

 bark of Jamaica, whose net-work is scarcely inferior to 

 the finest lace ; and at the same time soft, flexible, 

 and shining as silk. It is obtained from a shrub* which 

 grows in the West India Islands where it is said to be 

 employed as an article of dress. 



We see therefore that the cortical layers are com 

 posed of two distinct portions — longitudinal fibres 

 forming a network — and cellular substance occupying 

 the intervening spaces. The texture of the former 

 varies from the delicate fibres of the lace bark, to the 

 coarse meshe3 of the oak, but in all cases the net-work 

 is more durable than the intervening pulp, and more 

 capable of resisting the operation of chemical agents, 

 But the cortical layers of the Pine tribe present no 

 net-work, the Liber being composed of parallel adher- 

 ing fibres and the outer layers appearing like plates of 

 dried cellular integument, each separated from the oth- 

 er by an intervening membrane or epidermis. 



The cellular texture which is so easily destroyed 

 by the action of air and water appears to contain the 

 peculiar secretions of plants frequently in their most 

 perfect state. Of this we have a very common exam- 



* Daphne Lageito. 



7 



